The summer season for educators can be a time of rest and rejuvenation, but it can also offer opportunities for professional learning with new colleagues beyond your own school. The following programs from NASA’s Science Activation Program offer end-of-summer/early-fall curricular resources and connections with other educators that can help you bring new science ideas and activities into your instructional practice.  

Celebrating the Moon & Moon Rocks with NASA – A Webinar for Educators

Join us, as the world awaits this year’s International Observe the Moon Night (InOMN on September 14, 2024), for this free NASA Astromaterials Research and Exploration Science (ARES) interactive webinar focusing on the Moon, Moon rocks, Apollo and future Artemis Missions! This session will be geared towards educators and their students (targeting grades 5-9 but other grade levels, college students, and individual educators are welcome to participate). Participants will interact with Dr. Juliane Gross, Artemis Curation Lead at the NASA Johnson Space Center in Houston, TX. The presentation will last approximately 45 minutes followed by an optional 15-30 minutes of Q&A. If you can’t participate live, feel free to register to receive an archived recording of the presentation. 

When: September 11 at 1:00 – 2:15 p.m. EDT
Learn more and register

Infusing Space Rock Content and More into Learning Environments

Join NASA Astromaterials Research and Exploration Science for an interactive webinar focusing on hands-on and digital Earth and Space Science resources appropriate for both formal and informal learning settings. This session, geared towards educators who work with grades 3 through HS or general audiences at public events, will prepare you to engage learners with content associated with Moon rocks, meteorites, samples from asteroids and more! Presentation will last approximately 50 minutes followed by an optional 10+ minutes of Q&A. Those who register below will receive an archived recording of the presentation. 

When: September 17 at  8 p.m. EDT 
Register now

Spark Curiosity with Infiniscope’s Free Resources!

Infiniscope is a NASA-funded project focused on sparking curiosity, fostering exploration, and delivering digital content and tools that transform the learning experience. NGSS-Designed digital learning experiences are just the beginning. Whether you want classroom-ready content or the tools and support to build your own, we’ve got you covered. 

If you’re a middle school or highschool educator, join the webinars below and discover the incredible FREE resources waiting for you at Infiniscope.org. In this guided tour, you’ll learn how to: search for classroom-ready content on the website, find educator resources and detailed lesson information, enroll students in lessons and collections, sign up for future training events, access the virtual field trip creator, and get more information on our adaptive lesson builder. Learn more about Infiniscope.

Intro to Infiniscope Registration – September 17 at 4 p.m. EDT
Intro to Infiniscope Registration – October 22  at 6 p.m. EDT

Take Your Learners Anywhere with Tour It!

With Tour It, Infiniscope’s free virtual field trip creator, you can make place-based learning accessible to all your learners, boosting engagement and learning outcomes while enabling them to build personal connections. Tour It is your gateway to creating captivating virtual field trips! As a member of the Infiniscope teaching network, you’ll have exclusive access to this amazing tool that brings immersive learning experiences to life. Whether you’re a seasoned educator or just starting your journey, Tour It empowers you to craft engaging and interactive virtual tours that inspire learners and enable them to build personal connections to a place. Learn more about Tour it.

Exploring Place-Based Learning Registration – September 17 at 4 p.m. EDT
Planning Your Virtual Field Trip Registration – October 22 at 6 p.m. EDT

Heliophysics Webinars for Educators: Physics in an Astronomy Context

NASA’s Heliophysics Education Activation Team (HEAT) and the American Association of Physics Teachers (AAPT) have put together a free, monthly, virtual workshop series for teachers of astrophysics taught in the context of introductory and upper division physics and astronomy courses. While these workshops are intended for secondary- and tertiary-level teachers who teach in formal classroom contexts, other educators are also welcome if the content covered is appropriate to your teaching context. 

These virtual gatherings of 25-50 teachers occur one Saturday per month and provide an astrophysics mini-lecture, a small group engagement with the core activity, and discussion time to connect with like-minded educators. 

Dates and Topics: 

September, 21, 2024 – Coronal Mass Ejection Science
October 12, 2024 – Planetary Magnetism Science
November 9, 2024 – Auroral Currents
December 7, 2024 – Star Spectra Science

Time: 1 – 2:30 p.m. EDT

Register here 

We hope these resources will help prepare you for a wonderful year of amazing science learning… and beyond!

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